Belonging can sound like a big, abstract idea. But sometimes it looks remarkably simple.

• It looks like pizza and snacks shared around a table.
• It looks like a craft room where young people create “Queer Joy Boxes.”
• It looks like a quiet room where someone can step away when they need a calmer space.
• And it looks like walking into a room without having to hide or explain who you are.

That is the kind of belonging Eastside Pride PNW is helping create through Prism Connect, a network supporting Gender and Sexuality Alliance and Pride clubs in middle and high schools across the Eastside.

Eastside Pride PNW was a 2025 Ignite Kirkland grant recipient. We recently met with board member Susan Vossler to learn how the grant supported LGBTQIA+ youth and helped create a stronger sense of belonging.

“I think these [Middle & High School Gay Straight Alliance] clubs add a lot of value in that they are just being together and being able to safely be yourself,” Susan said. “No hiding, no explaining, nothing.”

Creating Safe and Joyful Spaces

Prism Connect began in the 2021–22 school year with 11 participating clubs. By 2025–26, it had grown to 29 middle and high school clubs across seven school districts, reaching an estimated 290 LGBTQIA+ young people.

For some students, these clubs are much more than an extracurricular activity.

“In some cases, it is the safe place for some of these kids to be,” Susan said.

Through Ignite Kirkland, the Kirkland Community Foundation awarded Eastside Pride PNW a $1,000 grant to support a Prism Connect youth summit at KTUB, the City of Kirkland’s youth space.

Approximately 15 students and two teacher advisors participated. Four LGBTQ+ adults also volunteered as panelists, sharing their experiences in school, their careers and life beyond adolescence.

“I’m super proud of the four adult LGBTQ+ panelists who talked about their experience in school and beyond,” Susan said. “It was super inspirational, and the kids were engaged and asked good questions.”

The grant provided food, creative activities and a quiet room for students who needed a break from the larger gathering.

“The money went toward pizza and snacks,” Susan explained. “We had a craft room. They created something called Queer Joy Boxes, and then there was a quiet room for those kiddos who needed it.”

These may seem like small things. Together, they created an environment designed to communicate something important to every young person who attended: There is room for you here.

Extending Belonging Beyond One Event

The Ignite grant’s impact continued after the summit.

Eastside Pride PNW offered the remaining funds as small grants to Prism Connect clubs for end-of-year Pride Month celebrations. Eleven clubs received support for snacks, crafts and opportunities to celebrate together.

“We offered all the Prism Connect clubs a certain amount of money to use for their end-of-year Pride Month club parties,” Susan said. “We had, I think, 11 of them respond, and they were so thankful. They loved it.”

A single $1,000 grant became both a community gathering and a series of smaller celebrations across Eastside schools.

It also strengthened Eastside Pride PNW’s partnership with KTUB and the City of Kirkland, helping LGBTQIA+ youth see themselves represented and welcomed within the broader community.

The Power of Being Seen

Financial support matters. Recognition matters too.

For smaller and community-led organizations, receiving a grant can affirm that their work is seen, trusted and valued.

“It’s such an honor to be recognized as a valuable organization within the community,” Susan said. “To be known and to be recognized.”

She added that the funds are being used “to make our community feel more welcome,” something she described as one of the things she is proudest of about Kirkland.

That is why belonging is central to the work of the Kirkland Community Foundation.

Through Ignite Kirkland, local donors help turn community generosity into welcoming spaces, trusted relationships and opportunities for people to connect. In this case, that support became food, art supplies, adult role models, Pride celebrations and rooms where LGBTQIA+ youth could safely be themselves.

Belonging begins when people know they do not have to change who they are to enter the room.

It grows when community members invest in the organizations creating those rooms.

And it becomes part of the character of our community when we work together to make sure more people can say: I am seen. I am welcome. I belong.